What do you love?
Happy New Year! I hope the holiday season had some restful moments amidst the chaos.
I am cleaning my home office today. It really feels good to be able to see some surfaces that have been covered by papers and books for months! But this tip is not about cleaning. Although, I feel really good again seeing a pristine desk surface.
One of the things I found among the stuff is a page I ripped out of the Ladies Home Journal, from November 2005. (I have now just confessed how long it has been since I last cleaned.) It is a picture of two long- haired dachshund puppies laying next to a woman whose face we cannot see. The caption says: 'We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. Another wonderful pearl of wisdom from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This guy knew about life!
As the New Year progresses, I vow to pay attention to how I have been shaped by the experiences in my life. I know that I love children because I do not have my own. I know that I love my dog and growing up as a 'cat person that has opened my eyes to so many other dogs. I love change, and my job allows me the luxury of experiencing change nearly every time I leave the house. I love to compete. I am always looking for an opportunity to 'get ahead. I love my friends and they have shaped me in so many good ways. Starting to see the pattern?
What do you love? How are you shaped by it? Pay attention to the joy you experience when you play disc golf or tell a joke that gets a huge laugh. How does your love for your grandchildren (you do like them best don't you?) shape what you do at work? Do you love your work? How does that shape you in other areas of your life? When you acknowledge this connection, you want to bring more of what you love into your life. I know this will reduce some of your chaos.
I love a clean office! I am still trying to be 'shaped and fashioned' by that love. I guess some things influence us more deeply than others!
Have a great '08!
Tracy
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Tracy Knofla
High Impact Training
PS. Feel free to share this with your friends and colleagues